San Francisco: Muir Woods National Monument

After our brief stop in Mill Valley, we continued our trek north of San Francisco to Muir Woods National Monument. Now if you know me personally then you know that I'm a huge nature lover and seeing the Redwood Forest has been on my Bucket List forever. I knew there was no way we would be able to visit Redwood National Park because of how far away it was, but when I started researching San Francisco I stumbled on Muir Woods National Monument. It was only 12 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge and it was home to some really large redwood trees. I read that most of the trees there were between 500 and 800 years old and there was one tree that was 1,200 years old! I locked that information away just in case anyone else on the trip expressed interest in seeing the redwood trees. Tuesday night when we were discussing what we wanted to do the next day I mentioned Muir Woods and everyone agreed that was something they were interested in doing. Oh my goodness was I excited! 

I knew that we wouldn't be able to spend all day at Muir Woods but the couple of hours that we were there were amazing and just awe inspiring. It was so humbling to walk amongst those giants of the forest and to see the reverence that every visitor to the park I passed showed. Hardly anyone was talking and the ones who were were whispering quietly. It was like being in a giant cathedral or library. Oh, and there wasn't any cell service so everyone had to focus on the beauty around them! Your mind was able to get completely lost in the beautiful landscape before you so you could thoroughly enjoy what you were seeing and experiencing. It was such a calming and peaceful experience and I was in awestruck wonder at God's amazing creation. 

With all that said, Muir Woods National Monument is a MUST DO if you ever go to San Francisco. If I ever go back to San Francisco-and I really hope to one day-I'll visit Muir Woods National Monument again and this time it will be for a lot longer than just two hours. Two hours left me wanting for so much more time and I hated to leave, but it was definitely better than not ever getting to visit. Here are some of the pictures I took during my walk around Muir Woods and they just don't do the trees justice. It's something you have to do in real life but hopefully you'll be able to see some of the beauty I was able to see in these magnificent giants. Enjoy! (Lots of pictures of giant trees follow!)